Improvement in rolls for splitting railway rails



A. Howells Roll: for Uniting Rail Road Hails.

Patented Jan. 23, 1872.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

AQUILA HOWELLS, OF NEWBURG, ASSIGNOR TO CLEVELAND ROLLING- MILL COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROLLS FOR SPLITTING RAILWAY RAILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 123,021, dated January 23, 1872.

To all, whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AQUILA HowELLs, of Newburg, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and Improved Itolls for CuttingRailway Rails, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making part of this specification.

SPECIFICATION.

Figure l is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is an end View.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the different views.

The nature of this invention relates to a pair of cast-iron rolls so arranged as to run upon each other, each roll being constructed alike, with wrought-iron collars or hands and a pair of cutters shrunk thereon, which are so arranged in relation to each other as to approximate their cutting-edges, and thereby cut one upon the other in the same direction; and as the cutters wear away the bands or rings on the sides thereof may be turned off to decrease the diameter, and thereby admit of the cutters being brought closer together; and when the said bands and cutters, or either of them, are worn away, new ones may be shrunk on the old rolls. Thus a great saving of time and expense is insured by using the old rolls with new bands and cutters. The rolls and cutters per so are not claimed, as I am ware that circular cutters have been ma c with chilled iron and turned up to the des'red shape, and that cutters have been form d by wroughtiron shafts with collars and stee cutters bolted thereon and regulated by markers. But what distinguishes my improvement is the arrangement and construction of the rolls, bands, and cutters, as combined in relation to each other, in the manner and for the purpose herein described. "he object of the above said invention is for cutting up waste railway rails by splitting them longitudinally, thereby separat ing the head, web, and foot of the rail, so that they are made more readily available for other purposes, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the drawing, Fig. 1, A and B represent a pair of castiron rolls journaled in the standard 0, and in such relation to eachother as shown in said figure. The central or cutting part B of the rolls is made of steel, having two cutting-edges, a b,which are made to approximate each other nearly so close as to touch. The space between the cutting-edges a b and the collars E and F is cored out for the purpose of allowing the passage of the head and foot of the rail, as seen at I I. The cutting-edges are kept from actual contact by the collars or bands E F,which aremade of wroughtiron and shrunk upon the rolls A B, and are each side of the central part D. The point of contact of these bands or rings E F with the rolls is indicated by the line 0, showing the thickness of them. One of the outside parts of the rolls to which the bands are connected is of less diameter than that part of the roll to which the cutters a b are secured. This is for the purpose of allowing said cutters which form rings to slip easily over the outside part of the rolls when being connected to the rolls in the position shownin the drawing. The said out ters and bands are made of suflicient thickness and strength to resist the strain of shrinking upon the rolls and operation of cutting, and when in place on the rolls are turned off to the proper size, shape, and form for the purpose required. The diameter of that part of the rolls on which the collars or bands are shrunk is a little more than that of the cutters; hence the bands will touch and run upon each other, thereby keeping the cutting-edges a a b b from contact though they arevery close to each other. The rolls are kept in contact by the keys H, and which are thereby prevented from being forced away from each other while in the act of cutting or splitting the rail. As above.

said, the purpose of the rolls is for cutting or splitting railway rails, so that they can be made more readily available for other uses. The peculiar shape of the ordinary T-rail is such as to render it very intractable of being worked over 5 hence, for the purpose of reducing its intractability and bringing it into convenient shape for working up, the rail is split. This I do by placing the end of the rail between the rolls so as to bring the head of the rail on the outside of the cutters b and the foot of the rail on the outside of the cutters a. The movement of the rolls will draw the rails between them and at the same time out therefrom the head and-foot, thus leaving the rail in three longitudinal pieces, via, head, web, and foot,

which now may be easily worked up into any other form. As fast as the cutters may become worn away, and therefore the distance between their edges become such that they will not cut through the thickness of the neck of the rail, said edges are brought closer together by reducing the diameter of the collars or bands E F, thereby bringing the edges of the cutters nearer to each other 5 and when the cutters and collars or bands are entirely worn out they can be removed from the rolls and new ones placed thereon, thereby saving the expense of a new set of rolls. The rolls for practical use are geared to each other and driven by power, and which may be applied to either of the rolls, as the case may be.

I am aware that rolls with steel cutters on their peripheries and flanges in contact to regulate the relative position of the cutters are old, as shown in English Mechanics Magazine, page 274, 1868, and in the patent to William A. Sweet, September 28, 1869. I therefore make no claim to such rolls; but

What I claim in the construction of rolls'of 

